The Carnival

[Ander]

Only the sound of Ander’s heavy breathing echoed in the darkness of the parking lot, perforated occasionally by the drip, drip, drip of the busted water pipes. He sat complacently, blood dribbling down the side of his face, and didn’t move. He didn’t know if he lacked the strength, or if simply his entire brain just shut down. Whoever moved him around like a game piece on some kind of cosmic playing board decided he’d sulked enough, and a bright blue light sparkled in front of him, expanding in swirling pattern of silky, luminescent fog. The thief didn’t even try to move as it gently took him in, lifting his broken figure from the pavement and drawing him into its mysterious depths. A moment later, he grunted as he flopped down onto an equally hard surface. Corny children’s instrumentals flooded his ears, along with that terrible smell of oily, syrupy confections. Out of some instinctual need to keep up pretenses, he grudgingly forced himself to his feet, brushing off his dusty desert apparel. Ander glanced around, unsurprised by what his scent and sound already told him.

Back in the carnival.

Then, another thought assaulted his brain.

That means…!

“Sage,” he finished in whisper.

His exhausted and agonized muscles found purpose again, and he took off at a brisk pace. A crowd now filled the park, and he ducked and weaved through the thick throng of guests. The dune dweller searched vainly for the frail-framed girl, eyes attempting to pick out the colors of her ensemble from the masses. If he’d made it out, there was no reason she shouldn’t have as well. Ander found her before – albeit somewhat by accident – and he could find her again. The youth wondered if she suffered the same fate as he, to fight against some ruthless insanity. At last, he spied a head of blue hair and a black dress turned away from him, and he ran over, pushing rudely past people as he went, to reach out to her and whirl the girl around.

“Hey, watch it jerk! What’s your problem?” some unknown woman snapped at him as he grabbed her.

He stared in frustration and disappointment at somebody who was obviously not Sage. “Sorry, you just…y-you, um…” he mumbled lamely. Ander didn’t bother to finish the half-hearted apology as he simply left to search for his companion anew. He went to the games where he saw her before, noticing the booth she had completely decimated before. The icy shards still remained, though now they dripped and melted into a rather large puddle. No luck.

Eventually, the thief circled the bulk of the park twice over, save for the water rides, his head swiveling madly in every direction and exasperatingly coming up empty every time.

“Are you lost?” a voice behind him giggled.

Ander scoffed lightly, and managed turn the left half of his lips into a lopsided version of his typical assured grin. The thief pivoted around to see none other than Mixie in all her splendor. “That sounds a little like a pick-up line,” he teased.

“Oh, no,” she assured with a flippant wave of her delicate hand. “My job is purely to assist the carnival guests. If you’re lost, I’m sure I can point you in the right direction.”

Ander placed a hand on his hip. “Well then maybe you can help me. I’m not lost, I’m looking for somebody. Uh, female, long blue hair, black dress, pinkish eyes, about yea tall? Might be randomly shooting ice at somebody? Name’s uh, Sage…” He paused, surprisingly finding himself blanking out on the second half. “Ummm…” How amusing. He knew her deepest darkest secret, and didn’t even know a simple surname. “Sage,” he said simply. That would definitely be a priority question for next time.

Mixie placed a finger to her chin and tapped it thoughtfully as she looked skyward. “Hmm…” she mused, almost playfully. Then her face lit up brightly as the brunette locked eyes with him again. “Nope, can’t say that I have. I’m sure she’s around here somewhere.” Then she leaned towards him, a sly smile on her face. “Is she important?”

Well, she’s the only person I actually know here, it might be a good idea to have her around, and if she’s going through drug withdrawals, she’s probably alone and freaking out somewhere.

“I just have something I need to ask her,” Ander shrugged casually.

“Then I will be sure to keep my eyes peeled for you. If I find her, you’ll be the first person to know,” Mixie nodded. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Yeah, actually. Would you mind telling me what exactly is going on here? Doesn’t seem like a normal carnival to me,” the thief inquired.

“Oh, you mean the events!”

“Events?”

“Special games just for the carnival. They’re designed around certain themes and each event has certain rules and certain objectives, but the goal, of course, is really just to have fun and enjoy yourself. Every round will have brand new events, so you never play the same game twice. There are multiple players in these events, but not everyone will be in the same one. Different players will also be in different games. Some of them are cooperative, and some are competitive. Some of them you’ll even be by yourself. For each event, players are ranked by their performance, with the reward being monies, a special currency just for this carnival that allows you to buy really cool items. The better performance, the more monies you get,” Mixie explained.

“That sounds… really great,” Ander managed with false enthusiasm. What kind of ‘game’ involved killing or dying against a psychopath? “Just have fun, huh?”

“Right, just have fun,” the woman agreed. Before any further headway could be made into the subjects, she switched tack, pointing to the nasty gash on his cheek. “You should probably have somebody look at that. We have a first aid tent by the games, or a more equipped facility in the hotel. They’ll fix you up good as new.”

“Thanks.”

“In the meantime, since you’ve lost your friend, would you like me to keep you company?”

Ander laughed, which hurt his face. “You told me it wasn’t a pick-up line.”

“Strictly platonic, I promise,” Mixie said, putting her hands up.

“Ahh, I think I’ll be all right. Wouldn’t want you to get fired if your boss saw you screwing around. Besides, I’m sure you’ll end up running into me again sooner or later. Pretty sure the carnival’s not over yet,” the thief replied coolly. “Thanks for your help.”

“I’ll see you around then,” she smiled with a wink.

Ander waved casually as she walked off. He located an information board with one of those giant plastic maps that say, ‘You are here.’ He air-traced a route with his finger from where he stood to the hotel, noting guiding landmarks along the way, and set off, still keeping an eye out for his missing compatriot. Before long, he found himself in a posh hotel, and the gal at the front desk pointed him towards the medical center. The medical staff were friendly and focused, and they to work immediately patching him up. He lay down on a mobile hospital bed with an IV drip, but refused any anesthetic stronger than an ice pack. Pain was the best teacher of all.

Or maybe that Juno guy took her somewhere. I bet if I find him I might find her. Or wait… did she leave and go with him? He seemed like he knew her pretty well. Maybe I should just let her be then. Augh, but then what if she’s not with him, and she’s somewhere by herself? Damn. I mean, it’s not like she needs my help or anything, but she did look really emotional and confused. And hey, why the hell do I even care? It’s not like we’re really good friends or anything. I mean, I guess we’re not even friends at all. But what was up with that hug? That was weird…

The thief waited patiently, lost in the labyrinth of his own dizzying reasoning, as they sanitized and sewed up his cut with dissolvable stitches, placing butterfly closures on top. Chicks dug scars anyway, right?

Once they completed his recuperation, they gave him some complimentary protein bars and sent him on his way. Ander sighed, noting the only place he hadn’t looked was in the water park, somewhere he had deliberately avoided until now. At the very least, it gave him something to do, and kept him from thinking about his awful deed of killing the saiyan Bardock. The carnival was sealed up tight, and couldn’t find anywhere that would give him a better clue of what exactly was going on here. The blue-eyed bandit meandered over in that direction, purposefully dragging his feet in unfounded apprehension. His path put him in direct line with the Ferris wheel, and Ander wasted time watching the bright lights and cheesy painted designs go ’round and ’round in a never-ending circle.

Somebody bumped into him, breaking him out of his mindless daze.

“Oh, excuse me, sorry,” she said in passing, not even bothering to make eye contact.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” he replied needlessly, for she was already walking away. He glanced at the offending crowd-wanderer, who by now had her back to him, and he noted the ridiculous oddity of pink hair. What is it with people and weird-colored hair?

The thief simply shook his head and returned to his previous occupation of watching the ride. Unfortunately, it had stopped, giving him no reason to keep staring. Oh well, he needed to find Sage anyway. Even if he didn’t, it sure beat waiting around for the next event to start, and he really didn’t want to know what else the carnival owner considered “fun.” Ander started to make his way through the masses again, noticing a bright flash of pink in the corner of his eye. The girl who bumped into him looked around uncertainly, as if nervous to board. Nobody stood around her, making her loner status glaringly obvious. He was in the process of going on his way when suddenly he did a double take.

Wait… I recognize you…

His mind flashed back to the picture he had stolen and eventually returned to Sage. This girl was in it. Although, it looked like she’d lost the blond roots and gone completely back to bubblegum pink. From the drunken ramblings of lunch, he recalled her name as Ashe, he believed. Since she had no way of knowing him, however, that information was probably best kept to himself. People usually found it a little unsettling when you knew more about them than you should. Besides, he was excellent at playing dumb.

Ander glanced back over his shoulder towards the water park, and then back to Ashe.

In the end, he picked what was already in front of him.

He walked over, tapped her on the shoulder, and flashed his friendliest grin.

“Um, hi,” she said, a little confused.

He pointed towards the Ferris wheel. “Wanna go?”

“Go where? There?” she repeated, following his finger to the carnival ride.

“Yeah,” he clarified. “You uh, you looked a little nervous. Do you want somebody to go with?”